Multicolor printing device for business machines and equipment



Dec. 10, 1968 TETSUQ SATO ET AL. 3,415,349

MULTICOLOR PRINTING DEVICE FOR BUSINESS MACHINES AND EQUIPMENT Filed Dec. 27, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS Dec. '10, 1968 T UO SATO ET AL 3,415,349

MULTICOLOR PRINTING DEVICE FOR BUSINESS MACHINES AND EQUIPMENT Filed Dec. 27. 1965 Z'Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR g9 fr W United States Patent Oflice 3,415,349 MULTICOLOR PRINTING DEVICE FOR BUSINESS MACHINES AND EQUIPMENT Tetsuo Sato and Harutaro Oba, Takata-gun, Shizuoka-ken, Japan, assignors to Tokyo Dcnki Kabushiki Kaisha, Tokyo-to, Japan Filed Dec. 27, 1965, Ser. No. 516,296 Claims priority, application Japan, Dec. 30, 1964 (utility model), 39/102,781, 39/74,813 3 Claims. (Cl. 197-157) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A business machine having a cam actuated, key controlled linkage for changing the ribbon field between red and black in accordance with the printing of negative and positive numerals. The ribbon shifting means has two guide levers having respective guide slots therein for guiding the printing ribbon in a straight path between the platen roll and the positioned type faces, and each guide lever has a guide slot at its free end and is pivoted at the other end, whereby said guide slot is shiftable in the transverse, width direction of the ribbon. Two actuating levers are coupled to the ribbon actuating means and are actuated in unison by the actuating movement of each actuating lever first causing respective ribbon holding means to hold the ribbon against movement in its feed direction and then causing the respective guide lever, together with the ribbon so held, to shift, thereby to change the color of printing.

This invention relates to business machines and equiprnent or oflice machines and appliances and to writing machines. More particularly, the invention relates to a new and improved printing device for printing numerals or characters in different colors such as red and black in business machines such as electrically-operated adding machines.

In electrically-driven adding machines, in general, numerals to be added and positive total values are printed in black, while numerals to be subtracted and negative total values are printed in red. This printing in the two colors of black and red is generally accomplished by feeding between a platen and type cylinder a ribbon inked with black ink along one lateral side (for example, the upper side) and with red ink along the other side (the lower side), the black ink part of the ribbon being normally placed in the position where the type faces and platen are to contact, thereby to print black numerals, and the ribbon being raised when a red numeral is to be printed, thereby to place the red ink part of the ribbon in the position of contact between the type faces and the platen.

In a conventional printing device of the above described type, the mechanism for raising and lowering the ribbon is actuated by a mechanism which is different from that of the ribbon feeding device and printing device, and furthermore, the mechanism for raising and lowering the ribbon is actuated during the feeding of the ribbon. Accordingly, the ribbon is subject to defective operational states such as twisting and ruflling or bunching.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above described difiiculty in printing devices of the instant type.

More specifically, an object of the present invention is to provide a printing device for printing numerals and characters in different colors in business machines, in which device the ribbon feeding time and the ribbon shifting time are positively spaced, and, moreover, the

ribbon shifting device is prevented from operating while the ribbon is being fed.

3,415,349 Patented Dec. 10, 1968 Another object of the invention is to provide a printing device of the above stated character wherein the multicolor ribbon is held against movement in the feeding direction while it is being shifted for changing over of colors.

A further object of the invention is to provide a printing device having a relatively simple construction and operation for accomplishing the above stated objects.

Briefly stated, the present invention resides in a printing device for business machines, wherein the ribbon shifting device is actuated by the same cam mechanism used for actuating the ribbon feeding device and, moreover, operates when the ribbon feeding device is at rest.

The nature, principle, and details of the invention will be more clearly apparent from the following detailed description with respect to a preferred embodiment of the invention, when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing in which like parts are designated by like reference numerals and characters, and in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view, partly in exploded form, showing the essential parts and their arrangement of the printing device embodying the invention and related parts; and

FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 are side elevational views showing the sequence of operation of a ribbon shifting device constituting an essential part of the printing device shown in FIG. 1.

Throughout the following disclosure, all directions specifically designated as left, right, front, rear, up, and down, as well as similar designations, refer to those directions as viewed from the left-hand, lower, near side of FIG. 1, the front side being the near side or the side nearest the viewer. Accordingly, FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the device as viewed from the righthand, upper, near side thereof.

Referring to FIG. 1, the business machine (not shown) is provided with a platen device which includes a pair of horizontally separated triangular plates 1, 1 constituting bell-crank levers pivoted at their lower, rear corners at pivots 2, 2 and rotatably supporting at their upper corners a horizontal shaft 4 on which a platen roll 3 is rigidly fixed. The platen roll 3 supports, in appropriate position for printing, a length of paper 5 wrapped thereabout.

To the rear of this platen roll 3, there is provided a set of type wheels 6, 6, individually rotatably mounted on a horizontal shaft 7. A gear 8 is attached to each wheel and mounted on the shaft 7 and is meshed with a corresponding vertical toothed rack 9 which is coupled to a calculating mechanism (not shown).

A ribbon 12 with its upper half a inked with black ink and its lower half b inked with red ink is horizontally interposed between the type wheels 6, 6, and the platen roll 3, being fed by a ribbon feeding device comprising, in part, ribbon reels 13 and 16 and guide slots 14 and 15 provided, respectively, on the front ends of a pair of guide levers 10, 10.

' These guide levers 10, 10 are disposed in a substantially horizontal position on the left and right sides of the type wheels 6, 6, and, being pivoted at their rear ends at pivots 11, 11, are rotatable thereabout to produce upand-down movement of the guide slots 14 and 15 whereby the vertical position of the ribbon guided thereby is vertically shifted for changing over between black and red inscription. The guide levers 10, 10 are actuated by a mechanism described hereinafter with which they constitute a ribbon shifting device.

This ribbon shifting device, the aforementioned ribbon feeding device, and the aforementioned platen roll device are actuated by mechanical motive power transmitted through respective mechanisms described hereinafter from a common driving shaft 18 disposed horizontally below the platen roll 3. To the driving shaft 18, there are fixed imprinting disks 19, 19 for actuating the platen roll for imprinting action, a feed cam 20 for actuating the ribbon feed device, and a shift cam 21 for actuating the ribbon shifting device.

The imprinting disks 19, 19 are respectively provided with rigid projecting pins 25, for engagement with the rear ends of a pair of rocker levers 24, 24 pivoted at their middle parts on pivots 23, 23 supported by the machine structure (not shown). The front ends of these levers 24, 24 are pin-connected through links 26, 26 to the front corners of the aforementioned triangular plates 1.

The feed cam 20 is engaged by follower pins 31, 31 rigidly projecting laterally from the ends of prongs of a fork lever 29 having a curved shape and which is pivoted about a horizontal pivot 28 supported by the machine structure (not shown). The end of the fork lever 29 remote from the prongs 30 is curved upward and is provided at its extremity with a cut-out slot 32 which is engaged with one end of a bell-crank lever 34 pivoted about a vertical pivot 33. The other end of the bell-crank lever 34 is pin-connected through a link 35 to a point near the right-hand end of a pawl bar 36 having at its left-hand end a pawl tooth c engaged with a ratchet wheel 37 fixed to the lower part of the aforementioned ribbon reel 16. The pawl bar has at its right-hand end a pawl tooth c engaged with a ratchet wheel 37' which is alfixed to the lower part of the ribbon reel 13. Fixing of the ratchet wheel 37 to the lower part of the reel 16 is attained by engaging the pawls 16a provided on the lower periphery of the reel 16 with the apertures 37a of the ratchet wheel 37. Similarly, the ratchet wheel 37' can be fixed to the reel 13 by engaging the pawls 13a provided on the lower periphery of the reel 13 with the apertures 37'a of the ratchet wheel 37. In the drawing (FIG. 1), the pawl tooth c, rachet wheel 37, and ribbon reel 16, and the pawl tooth c, ratchet wheel 37 and ribbon reel 13 are respectively shown spaced apart for the purpose of easy comprehension of their construction, but they are mutually engaged in the assembled state as described hereinabove.

The shift cam 21 is engaged by a follower pin 41 rigidly projecting laterally from one end of a bell-crank lever pivoted on a horizontal pivot 39 supported by the machine structure (not shown). The other end of the bellcrank lever 40 is connected to a spring 42 imparting a force which causes the follower pin 41 to be pressed against the cam 21.

The outer (right-hand) end of the follower pin 41 is rotatably connected to the front end of a reciprocating bar 43 extending in the front-rear direction and having at an intermediate part along its length an inclined slot 44 which is inclined relative to the centerline of the bar 43. The inclined slot 44 has engaged therein a pin 47 rigidly fixed to and laterally extending from the upper end of a lever 46 which is fixed at its lower end to a horizontal shaft rotatably supported at the lower part of the machine structure.

The other (rear) end part of the bar 43 is provided with a cutout recess 51, a lug 52 forwardly projecting over the recess 51 being formed at the extreme end part of the bar 43. In the recess 51 there is loosely fitted a pin rigidly fixed to and laterally extending from an intermediate part of a lever 49 extending downwardly from and fixed to the right-hand end of a horizontal shaft 48 rotatably supported to extend in the left-right direction above the aforementioned type wheel 6. The lever 49 is urged rearwardly by a spring 53, its most rearward position being limited by a stop 54 fixed to the machine structure.

A pair of levers 55, 55 are fixed in coincident angular positions to the shaft 48, and slots 56, 56 formed at the free ends of the levers 55, 55 are engaged with pins 57, 57 rigidly fixed to and extending laterally from the sides of the aforementioned guide levers 10, 10 at points thereof between the slots 15 and 14 and the pivots 11, 11. Preferably, the levers 55, 55 are coupled to the guide levers 4 10, 10 in the manner shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4 and described hereinafter.

To the other (left-hand) end of the aforementioned shaft 45, there is fixed a crank lever 59, Whose free end is pin-connected through a link 60 to an intermediate point of a key lever 62 which is pivoted at its front end on pivot 61 supported by the machine structure. The upper edge of the other (rear) end of the key lever 62 is in contact engagement with the lower end of a negative number key 63 adapted to be vertically movable, whereby manual depression thereof causes the key lever 62 to swing downwardly.

Substantially parallel to the key lever 62, there is provided another key lever 64 which is pivoted at its front end on a pivot 65 supported by the machine structure. The other (rear) end of the key lever 64 has a laterally bent portion thereon which is in contact engagement with the upper edge of the key lever 62 at a point near its rear end. The upper edge of the key lever 64 at intermediate points thereof is in contact engagement with the lower ends of vertically operable keys 66 and 67 for subtotals and grand totals, respectively, the key 67 being farther from the pivot 65 than the key 66.

The printing device of the above described essential construction and arrangement according to the present invention operates in the following manner.

When the device is in the normal state for printing positive numerals, the lever 46 is inclined toward the near side to the dotted line position opposite to the position shown by full lines in FIG. 1. Accordingly, the reciprocating bar 43 is in its lower position, and the recess 51 is in a position displaced downwardly from the pin 50.

Then, when the positive number key (not shown) is depressed, the driving shaft 18 is caused to rotate, thereby to rotate the imprinting disks 19, 19 and earns 20 and 21. The rotation of the cam 20 thereupon causes the fork lever 29 to rotate in the counter-clockwise direction as viewed from the right-hand side, and the slot 32 moves forwardly to cause the bell-crank lever 34 to rotate clockwise as viewed from above. The rotation of the bell-crank lever 34 is transmitted through the link 35 to move the pawl bar 36 leftwardly, whereby the pawl tooth c, acting on the ratchet reel 37, causes the ribbon wheel 16 to rotate through a certain angle of rotation thereby to wind up the ribbon by feeding it leftwardly a certain length.

Next, the cam 21 causes the bell-crank lever 40 to rotate counterclockwise as viewed from the right, and the reciprocating bar 43 is thereby moved forward, but since the recess 51 is in a position displaced downwardly from the pin 50 as mentioned above, the linkage mechanism consisting of the lever 49, shaft 48, levers 55, 55, and guide levers 10, 10 does not operate. Consequently, the black part a of the ribbon 12 is positioned in the printing position between the platen roll 3 and the type wheels 6, 6,

Accordingly, when the pins 25, 25 of the imprinting disks 19, 19 engage and depress the rear ends of the rocker levers 24, 24, which thereupon rotate clockwise as viewed from the right and, acting through links 26, 26, also cause the triangular plates 1 to rotate clockwise thereby to cause the platen roll 3 to move rearwardly, a black numeral is imprinted on the paper 5 wrapped around the platen roll 3.

When the negative number key 63 is depressed, or when the total value becomes negative, the key lever 62 is pressed downwardly. This movement of the lever 62 is transmitted through he link 60, the crank lever 59, and the shaft 45 to cause the lever 46 to rotate clockwise, whereby the upper edge of the inclined slot 44 is pushed upwardly by the pin 47. Accordingly, the reciprocating bar 43 is rotated slightly in the upward direction about the pin 41, whereby the recess 51 is raised to the position of engagement with the pin 50.

Then, as the driving shaft 18 rotates, the feed cam 20 causes the ribbon 12 to be fed to the left a certain length,

and thereafter the shift cam 21 causes the reciprocating bar 43 to move forward as described above, the rear edge of the recess 5'1 thereby moving the pin 50 forward. Accordingly, the lever 49 is rotated forwardly, or clockwise as viewed from the right, and this rotation is transmitted through the shaft 48 to cause the levers 55, 55 to rotate upwardly thereby to cause the guide levers 16, also to rotate upwardly. The ribbon 12, being passed through the guide slots 14 and 15 of the guide levers 1d, 1.0, is thereby shifted upwardly by a distance equal substantially to one half of the ribbon width, and the red part 12 thereof is positioned in the imprinting position between the platen rolls 3 and the type wheel 6, 6,

Accordingly, when the pins 25, on the imprinting disks 19 cause the platen roll 3 to move rearwardly, a red numeral is imprinted on the paper 5.

As mentioned hereinbefore, the levers 55, 55 are preferably coupled to their respective guide levers 10, 10 in the manner shown in FIGS. 2, 3, and 4. According to this construction and arrangement, each pin 57 engaging with its respective slot 56 at the end of the lever 55 is rigidly fixed to and laterally projecting from a holding plate 72 pivoted on a horizontal pivot 73 supported by the corresponding guide lever 10 at a point near its guide slot 14 (or 15). The holding plate is provided on its side adjacent to the guide lever 10 with a rigid laterally projecting pin 74 which is engageable with the upper edge of the guide lever 10 and functions as a stop pin. In this case, the extreme front end of the guide lever 10 is bent at right angles just forward of the guide slot 14 (or 15) to form a flange 71.

When the ribbon shifting device is operated as described hereinbefore, and the levers 55, 55 are rotated upwardly, first, each holding plate 72 is caused by the resultant action of its respective slot 56 and pin 57 to rotate about its pivot 73 in the counter-clockwise direction as viewed in FIG. 2, and its upper edge part 72a presses against, the flange 71 of the guide lever 10 as indicated in FIG. 3, thereby holding the ribbon 12 interposed therebetween. Simultaneously, the holding plate 72 is prevented from further rotation in the counterclockwise direction about its pivot 73.

Accordingly, the guide lever 10 is then rotated upwardly to the position indicated in FIG. 4 whereby the red part of the ribbon 12 is positioned for printing between the platen roll 3 and type wheel 6, 6, as described hereinbefore. Thus when the levers 55, 55 operate, the holding plates 72 first operate to hold the ribbon 12, and then the guide levers 16, 10 move upward. Therefore, the ribbon 12 is raised in a state wherein it is fixed relative to the guide levers 1b, 10. As an advantageous result, the ribbon is fed and shifted without any twisting or ruflling.

As described above, the present invention provides a multicolor printing device wherein, since the ribbon shift-- ing device is driven by power from the same cam mechanism as that of the ribbon feeding device, the ribbon feeding time and the ribbon shifting time can be positively spaced and, moreover, the ribbon shifting device is prevented from operating while the ribbon is being fed. Therefore, defective operation wherein the ribbon is twisted or rufded is prevented. Furthermore, the action of the holding plates 72 in holding the ribbon while it is being shifted and used in printing further assures prevention of twisting and rufiling.

It will be obvious that the timing of the ribbon feeding and the ribbon shifting operations can be suitably adjusted by changing the relative angular positions of the feed cam 20 and the shift cam 21 on the driving shaft 18. Furthermore, while in the above described example, printing is accomplished by actuating the platen roll, equivalent printing can be accomplished also by actuating the type wheel or actuating both the platen roll and the type wheel. Another possible modification is to use, instead of a type wheel, a vertically movable type bar provided with type faces alined vertically thereon.

What we claim is:

1. In a business machine, a multiple-color printing device comprising, in combination: a platen device including a platen roll for feeding and supporting a writing sheet in position on the platen roll for printing thereon; imprinting means having type faces which can be positioned to confront the writing sheet on the platen roll for imprinting thereon over a printing ribbon interposed therebetween and having a mechanism intercoupled to the operation of the business machine for positioning the type faces in response to said operation, said ribbon being a multi-color type with longitudinal inked bands of different colors; ribbon feeding means for feeding the ribbon between positioned type faces and the writing sheet on the platen roll; ribbon shifting means for shifting the ribbon in a transverse direction relative to the positioned type faces thereby to change the color of printing; printing means for causing relative imprinting movement of the positioning type faces and the platen roll; and ribbon actuating means coupled to the ribbon feeding means and the ribbon shifting means for actuating the ribbon feed ing means and the ribbon shifting means in interlocked operation at spaced intervals in time, said ribbon shifting means comprising two guide levers having respective guide slots therein for guiding the printing ribbon in a straight path between the platen roll and the positioned type faces, each guide lever having its respective guide slot at its free end and being pivoted at the other end whereby said guide slot is shiftable in the transverse, width direction of the ribbon, two actuating levers coupled to the ribbon actuating means and actuated in unison by the ribbon actuating means, and a ribbon holding means supported on each guide lever and coupled to the free end of one of the actuating levers, actuating movement of each actuating lever first causing the respective ribbon holding means to hold the ribbon against movement in its feed direction and then causing the respective guide lever, together with the ribbon so held, to shift, thereby to change the color of printing.

2. The multiple-color printing device according to claim 1, wherein the ribbon actuating means comprises cams and mechanisms driven by said cams respectively for actuating the ribbon feeding means and the ribbon shifting means, said cams being driven by a common driving shaft.

3. The multiple-color printing device according to claim 1, wherein the ribbon actuating means and the printing action means are driven by a common driving member.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,224,873 5/1917 Walter.

1,780,630 11/1930 Page 197--151 2,732,924 1/1956 Hawthorne l0l336 X 2,734,455 2/1956 Phinney 101-4136 2,747,718 5/1956 May 197-457 2,875,686 3/1959 Gross et a1. l01--336 X 3,145,651 8/1964 Schultz 10l336 3,186,533 6/1965 Schultz -Q. 197157 ROBERT E. PULFREY, Primary Examiner.

ERNEST T. WRIGHT, Assistant Examiner. 9'

US. Cl. XR. 

